The Unexpected Surprise
by songofamockingjay
Summary: The 10th Doctor takes Rose to a beautiful planet as a surprise, but the sudden and early migration of the Jactos species, ends up making this special day a horrific nightmare.


"Allon-sy, Rose Tyler, I have a massive surprise for you!" The Doctor giggles as he leads Rose out of the TARDIS and into the new world beyond its door. The second the door opens, a cool whoosh of air musses up her blonde waves, and her eyes scan the gorgeous terrain ahead of her.

"Where on earth are we, Doctor?" She gasps.

"Well definitely not on earth." He smirks while accepting the light punch to his shoulder.

"Surrexeruntictus. Or 'Surr' for short. We used to go on holiday here all the time." The Doctor admits.

"It's gorgeous!" she swoons. The ground shimmers in a dew-like fashion in the greenest of greens. The sky, alight with stars shine brightly in harmony with their sun, flashing different, vibrant colors dash across her vision. The Doctor looks at Rose and studies her curiosity filled face. Her eyes quickly flit around her, taking in the scenery, and her smile is faint with her lips slightly parted. Stray hair frame her face as they have fallen out of her loose ponytail. She sighs and turns to the Doctor as he quickly snaps out of his concentrative gaze, and she gives him an awarding tongue-in-teeth smile.

"Well, I assume you'd like to know what available options we have here, hmm?" he asks.

"Oh, absolutely." She drones in awe.

"Well, first off, we're going to kick it domestic style and have a picnic!" He trills as he reaches back into the TARDIS and takes out a basket with a lovely blanket precariously perched on top of it. Rose sighs and smiles at the Doctor.

"Ready?" he asks her.

"Yeah." The Doctor tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear before taking her hand and leading to the next surprise he had for her. A few hundred paces later, they make it through a beautifully eccentric flower path, and she catches sight of a shoreline.

"You're kidding me!" she scoffs. "You're kidding me!" she literally jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck.

"Thank you so much!" she gushes. He grins back at her in return. He carefully tosses the blanket onto the sand and places the picnic basket upon it.

"Join me, love?" he offers as he gently sits down. Rose is beyond happiness as she keeps on grinning at the Doctor.

"So what did you pack for the picnic, Doctor?" Rose asks while taking the lid off of the basket. She instantly laughs at the contents.

"Chips and bananas!" She laughs, "Chips and bananas! I can't stand you!"

"I only wanted the best!" he jokingly defends while grabbing the nearest banana and peeling it with ease. Rose laughs and takes a container of chips out. They eat and sigh happily watching the crystalline waves softly crawl up the glittering sand.

"Tide's coming in." he observes softly. "This shouldn't happen until another month or so." Quick, dangerous realization dashes across his mind.

"Rose, we need to pack up now." He urgently shouts. Startled, Rose begrudgingly packs the chips back into the basket.

"Quickly, QUICKLY!" he yells. Before she could speed up her actions, a buzzing sound distracts her. The second she turns around, a sharp force cuts open her lip and throws her to the ground.

"Jactos!" the Doctor warns.

Troops of metallic creatures materialize out of the growing waves and start to surround Rose.

"Rose!" The Doctor shrieks as the chrome creatures push him away from her. The creatures themselves have eight sharp and spiny arms stretching and curving out from the thin, spiky body. A helmet-like head juts out from the front of the creature. Rose tries to stand up, while clutching her bleeding lip.

"Doctor! Help me!" Rose yelps as another spiny arm lashes across her collarbone. Rose cries out and the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to cause one of the Jactos to fall to the ground. Another sickening hit reaches Rose as this one lands across her temple, and she falls onto the sand. The Doctor works through the group of Jactos before catching sight of her.

"Rose." He gasps. "What have they done to you?" Her face is bloodied from a sharp gash on her left temple, along with her lip. The blood continues across her collarbone, soaking her purple top. One of the Jactos reaches out to the Doctor and he deflects it with ease.

"What have you done to her?" he shouts to the Jactos. "You've- no…" he notices her lack of breath. "You've KILLED her!" The Jactos hunker slightly, like a dog with a tail between his legs. "You've killed Rose Tyler!" He loudly gasped. "Get away from her!" he yells. "Go back to where you were! Please, I beg of you, please!" The Jactos back away from Rose and dive back into the water. If only it was as easy before. The Doctor reaches Rose and places his hand on her face.

"Please, stay with me, Rose." He begs as he hoists her up and starts to run back to the TARDIS. The second he reaches the TARDIS, diamond-like rain falls onto the beautiful grass.

"TARDIS! Medical kit, now!" he commands. Almost immediately, a door opens on the left side of the TARDIS and an antiseptic scent flows out of it. The Doctor quickly takes Rose into this room, and a hospital table is provided, as well as a wall full of medical supplies.

"TARDIS, you need to help me now. Please." He begs. A light humming responds to him as three bottles of fluid fall unharmed from the wall of supplies. The Doctor quickly grabs the bottles and reads the labels. One of the labels, clearly stating 'Cleaning Gel' attracts the Doctor's attention and he takes a towel off of the wall as well. Carefully, he douses the towel with the cleaning gel and starts to wipe away the drying blood.

"Rose, stay with me, please Rose." He mumbles to himself as he uncovers the deep wounds.

"What have they done to you?" he repeats as silent tears drip from his eyes. After using the cleaning gel on her wounds, he takes the next bottle labeled as 'Rapid Healing gel' and gently smears the it over her deep gashes. As the gel starts to lightly fizz over her wounds, he kisses her on the cheek and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

"This was supposed to be a fun day, Rose, and I'm so sorry." He wipes away one of his own tears that has fallen onto her face. "Just please come back, Rose Tyler. Please." Her chest slowly rises and a sigh escapes from her.

"Rose? Rose can you hear me?" he sharply whispers. "Rose?" Her breathing comes in sharp gasps and she winces.

"Doctor?" she croaks out.

"Yes, I'm here, Rose, I'm here." He gasps. "Oh, thank everything."

"Doctor? Why does it hurt?" she asks as tears start to form out of her wincing eyes.

"You're going to get better, believe me, Rose Tyler, I will make you feel better. I promise you, on my life I promise."

"Okay." She whispers and coughs bitterly. The Doctor reaches for the last bottle that fell from the wall. 'Anesthesia.'

"Rose, I'm going to have you fall asleep okay?"

"Okay." She pants. The Doctor reaches over to find a medical needle to administer the drug. After measuring the correct amount, he injects the medicine into her inner elbow. After five seconds or so, she gives an almost contented sigh and her head tilts to the side. 'At least she is breathing.' The Doctor thinks as he picks her up again, and puts her in her room in the TARDIS.

"I'm so sorry, Rose." He whispers as he places her on her bed, and gently tucks a blanket up underneath her chin. "This is all my fault, Rose." He kisses her on the cheek and softly strokes her healing forehead. The Doctor slowly backs out of her room, and sits in the chair out in the console room.

"But why today?" he questions himself. "The Jactos migration wasn't supposed to happen for another two or three months. Why today?" The TARDIS hums in response. He starts to type information onto the middle console, and the TARDIS lurches and wheezes as they travel through the time vortex.

The sound of soft padding feet wake Rose as she tries solve her muddled medicated brain. The Doctor sits on the edge of her bed and strokes her hair.

"It's ok, Rose." He soothes as she winces again. Her wounds haven't been completely healed, and the pain hasn't faded at all.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. The Jactos weren't supposed to be there for another few months.

"It's not your fault, Doctor. I'm already feeling better." She unconvincingly whispers.

"No you're not." He simply disagrees and leaves the room to get the anesthesia. Upon his return, Rose sits up, but the Doctor gently sets he back down again.

"You're going to hurt yourself. Be careful." He warns. The second he pulls out the needle, Rose sits right back up, causing immense pain.

"You're not giving me that again!" she tries to struggle.

"But you're in pain!" he argues.

"But I don't want that again!"

"Why not?"

"You don't know what has been going through my mind. Nightmares, Doctor!" she argues back. His gaze softens.

"Nightmares?" he questions gently.

"Nightmares." She concludes as tears start to fall from her eyes. The Doctor wipes the tears away with his thumb.

"Then what do you want?" he whispers.

"You, Doctor." Is all she can manage before she starts to sob. He wraps his arms around her and holds her head against his shoulder. Her body shakes as she cries. He kisses her head and her breathing becomes uneven.

"It's ok, calm down. Breathe, Rose." He soothes.

"Thank you, Doctor." She sighs into his shoulder.

"You're very welcome, but you shouldn't thank me. I brought you into this mess." He admits.

"And it's the most beautiful mess I've been in." she whispers. After a while, they end up shifting, and they're both lying on her bed.

"What are your nightmares about?" he asks after a long pause.

"Everything horrible in the world… and other worlds." She sighs.

"But what was the one about while you were on the medication?"

"I lost everything. We went onto another planet and we ended up dying. But I saw my whole life flash before me. Memories that I hadn't even remembered for a while." She retaliates. The Doctor strokes her cheek.

"I have nightmares too, Rose. They're about the same." The Doctor confesses. The gashes on her body have turned into smaller cuts and the pain has faded a bit.

"How are you feeling now, Rose?" the Doctor asks.

"Much better." She mumbles. "I'm actually really tired."

"Do you want me to stay?" he asks softly. She answers by curling into his chest further, and sighing.

"I'll take that as a yes then. " he whispers and kisses her almost healed forehead. After a while, he hears her take an adorable noise as sleep overtook her healing form. Hours pass, and he manages to wiggle his way out of Rose's arms once he realized her gashes have fully healed without a trace left behind. He waltzes into the TARDIS kitchen and starts to cook something, as a last surprise.

"Maybe I can pull this one off." He mutters to himself.

Just as he finishes up his cooking, he can hear soft footsteps sliding into the console room.

"Doctor?" he hears her call out.

"In here!" he replies. She follows his voice and she is met with a delectable assortment of food.

"Doctor? What is this?" She gasps as he pulls her chair out for her.

"Making up for your day." He responds.

"You didn't have to do this, Doctor. I'm fully healed!" she informs.

"I know! And thank goodness you are. But still. I wanted to make this day special, and well it certainly surprised us."

"Well, it is a special day, Doctor. Any day is special and fantastic with you. Even if we get banged up on the way." She consoles him. "Here Doctor." She holds up her glass full of a succulent wine. "Cheers."

"Cheers." He responds with a wink, as the glasses clink .


End file.
